WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Rov"er
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [D. roover a robber. See Rove, v. i.]
Definition : 1. One who practices robbery on the seas; a pirate. Yet Pompey the Great deserveth honor more justly for scouring the seas, and taking from the rovers 846 sail of ships. Holland.

2. One who wanders about by sea or land; a wanderer; a rambler.

3. Hence, a fickle, inconstant person.

4. (Croquet)

Defn: A ball which has passed through all the hoops and would go out if it hit the stake but is continued in play; also, the player of such a ball.

5. (Archery) (a) Casual marks at uncertain distances. Encyc. Brit. (b) A sort of arrow. [Obs.] All sorts, flights, rovers, and butt shafts. B. Jonson. At rovers, at casual marks; hence, at random; as, shooting at rovers. See def. 5 (a) above. Addison. Bound down on every side with many bands because it shall not run at rovers. Robynson (More's Utopia).
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913